By Vincent K Pollard, 5 December 1998. Born in Hong
Kong, Attorney MA grew up in Taiwan. Supporters of the
ex-GMD New Party abandoned their own candidate, joining
forces with the GMD against the DPP. The momentary
realignment of New Party supporters with the GMD
realignment is further evidence that instability will
characterize the GMD with factions splitting off and
rejoinging, whether or not it stays in power.

By Ching Cheong, The Straits Times, 7
December 1998. KMT's victory signals the beginning of
a New Taiwanese identity. The victor, Ying-jeou Ma, said
his victory signified the end of an ethnic rift that has
marked Taiwan's politics over the past five
decades.

By Vincent Kelly Pollard, 8 December 1998. Among other
lessons, Saturday's election results show that the
ruling Kuomintang/Guomindang continues to *learn* from
opposition parties (especially, the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) but also the New Party), adapting policies
while maintaining a working majority of elected
positions. What the DPP has learned remains to be
seen.

By Deborah A. Brown, James A. Robinson, and Eric
P. Moon, 11 December 1998. The Nationalist Party (the
Kuomintang or KMT) has dominated politics since its
arrival in Taiwan in 1949 following the communist victory
in China. But for the last decade, the KMT had been losing
support to the rising DPP, which began as a protest party
against the KMT’s authoritarian rule and in favor of
Taiwan's independence.